


Stuck (With Little Chance Of Escape)

by superfast_pinetree



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Gore, Heavy Angst, Main Character Death, Mind Control, Minor Character Death, Multi, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Possession, Sibling like relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-18 17:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superfast_pinetree/pseuds/superfast_pinetree
Summary: After the remains of the Battleship Condescension crash onto Alternia, Terezi convinces her friend Karkat to investigate the remains with her, and to explore the abandoned ship to try and find good loot.Getting trapped in the ship with a very unstable Helmsman was not what they had in mind.





	1. The Spelunking Game

_CRASH._

The ground shook beneath her feet, and Terezi Pyrope thought for a moment that she was going to fall. But instead of falling flat on her face and eating shit, she merely tripped, her hands catching the table that was in front of her so that her trip wouldn’t end in a broken nose (or something worse, honestly). Knuckles a bright teal, the grey-skinned troll would stand there for a moment, letting out a swift breath as panic slowly ebbed away from her system. Well.. Alrighty then. A huge crash just happened somewhere aways from her hive, and it was so drastic that it nearly made her fall flat on her ass. Honestly something that Terezi didn’t think would happen. But a lot of things fucked up and strange happened in her lifespan, so she wouldn’t let it get to her. She was just worried about the condition that her shit was in more than anything else. (She was curious about the crash as well, don’t get her wrong. But she was a bit more concerned about how her respiteblock was more than anything at the moment.)

Straightening herself up to her full height, the tealblood would stalk around the perimeter of said respiteblock, sniffing and feeling for anything out of the ordinary. Like normal, she was presented with a swirl of different smells (due to the different colors of chalk on her walls, of course). All of it smelled and tasted similar, and she didn’t feel any sharp cold of a breeze. So after a few moments of sniffing and licking and feeling around, she was sure that there wasn’t a hole in the middle of her block. Sure was the key word here. But the Pyrope put off searching in the rest of her hive- if the topmost floor of the tree-hive was fine, wouldn’t the bottom floors be okay as well? Yes, of course it would be!

Now that the dread of her hive being fucked up passed her brain, her thinkpan then went on to settle on one thought: what was that crash? There were lots of crashing sounds going on wherever she went, if she had to be frank. But there was never a moment in her six sweeps of life that she had heard something that big. Hell, never in her life has her tree-hive shook all the way down to its roots! Many theories and ideas sprung into her mind about what the absolute fuck that crash could be; from an alien invasion to Eridan coming to visit, but not exactly sticking the landing and instead crashing his violet ass into the dirt at a million miles per hour. But both were honestly very perplexing, and once she stopped snorting with laughter over the sight of the seadweller face first into the ground, Terezi strolled right on over to her husktop, sitting herself down in front of the screen as her ears perked with interest. She could already tell from the pure smell of grey and cherry that Karkat had messaged her about fifteen kajillion times. Looks like she was too caught up to hear the ping.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

CG: TEREZI.  
CG: TEREZI DID YOU FUCKING HEAR THAT HUGE CRASH ABOUT FIVE SECONDS AGO?? OR ARE YOU JUST IGNORING ME LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO WHEN YOU’RE BUSY WITH YOUR SHIT.  
CG: I SWEAR TO ALMIGHTY CHRIST IF YOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT GODDAMN THING, I’M GOING TO HONESTLY DO A TRIPLE HALF GAINER OUT OF THIS CHAIR, FLIP MYSELF SO FAST THAT I FLY STRAIGHT TO YOUR HIVE, AND THEN PROCEED TO SLAP THE EVER LOVING SHIT OUT OF YOU FOR NOT ANSWERING.  
CG: FUCKING, EVERYONE ELSE ARE SHITTING THEIR PANTS OVER THIS THING, AND YOU’RE NOT??  
CG: PYROPE!!!!!!!!!!  
CG: ...  
CG: FINE. FUCKING HAVE IT YOUR WAY. I’M GOING TO ACTUALLY WASTE MY TIME WITH SOMEONE MORE INTERESTING.  
GC: GOD K4RK4T, L3T M3 B3 CONC3RN3D FOR TH3 W3LLB31NG OF MY H1V3!  
CG: FINALLY. I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE THIS CHAT FOR GOOD.  
CG: WHAT THE FUCK TOOK SO LONG? IT DOESN’T TAKE THAT LONG TO LOOK AROUND YOUR HIVE, DUMBASS.  
GC: >:[  
GC: YOU N3V3R 3V3N B33N 1N MY H1V3!! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW B1G 1T 1S  
GC: B3S1D3S, W3R3N’T YOU LOOK1NG AROUND YOUR PL4CE?  
GC: D1DN’T YOUR H1V3 SH4K3 4ND SH1T?  
CG: NO?? IT DIDN’T.  
GC: 4LL YOU D1D W4S H34R TH4T HUG3 SM4SH  
CG: YEAH.  
GC: J3SUS CHR1ST  
GC: TH3N 1T MUST’VE B33N N34R MY PL4C3 MOR3  
CG: I.. GUESS SO???? WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE FUCKTIT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?????

Terezi leaned back in her chair, running her dark teal tongue over her mouth as she lost herself in thought once more. If that.. thing... did crash near her, then maybe she would have a chance to go take a look inside. It’s not that anyone else (other than a few desperate lowbloods) would be trying to go steal anything that was in there, right? Besides, the Pyrope may not find anything to even look into. Maybe she would just find a dead troll or something. Or a dead flight-beast lusus. Not to mention the fact that she did have combat skills, and hell, the mere thought of her being able to catch a potential criminal in the walls of whatever fell out of the sky made her grin even more than usual. And she usually grinned a whole lot after she tasted the cherry red of Mr. Vantas over there.

Her claw like nails tapped on the keys (she had memorized the placement of the letters by now) as she typed down a suitable response.

GC: TH4T *M34NS*, 1D1OT, TH4T 1 M4Y H4V3 4 CH4NC3 OF ST34L1NG SOM3 GOOD SH1T OUT OF WH4T3V3R F3LL!  
GC: >:]

carcinoGeneticist [CG] is typing…

Eyebrows raised, the tealblooded troll would suppress a giggle of mirth as she tasted the notification. That small notification of Karkat typing was always there, but in this exact context the text was a lot more fucking hilarious than it should be. Her ears continued to perk- flicking back and forth with excitement when she heard the ping that was his response.

CG: WHAT. THE ABSOLUTE. *FUCK*.  
CG: GOD TEREZI, I KNEW THAT YOU COULD MAKE SOME OF THE MOST OUTRAGEOUSLY HILARIOUS IDEAS THAT I HAVE EVER HEARD SINCE MY RIPE DAY OF WIGGLER-SHIP,  
CG: BUT FUCK,  
CG: THIS HAS TO TAKE THE GODDAMN CAKE.  
CG: WHY IN ANY WAY AT FUCKING ALL, DO YOU WANT TO GO NEAR THE SOURCE OF THAT SHIT?!?  
CG: IT MAY NOT EVEN BE SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN EVEN GO *INTO*!!  
CG: I’M ACTUALLY LAUGHING MY ASS OFF BECAUSE OF THIS.  
CG: I FEEL AS IF MY THINKPAN IS TURNING INTO YOURS, BECAUSE I NEVER CACKLED THIS FUCKING MUCH EVER.  
CG: FIRST THAT LOUD ASS SOUND, AND NOW THIS??  
CG: COULD THIS FINALLY BE THE DAY WHERE I FINALLY LOSE MY MIND?? IT MIGHT BE SO.  
GC: PFF  
GC: C4LM DOWN, DUD3  
GC: 1T’S PROB4BLY NOTH1NG HUG3, OKAY?  
GC: TH3 WORST 1T C4N B3 1S 4N 4B4NDON3D SH1P OF THE 3MP1R3  
GC: OR 4T L34ST A SH1P WH3R3 4LL TH3 TROLLS D13D 1N 1T 4T ON3 PO1NT  
GC: PLUS, 1 C4N F1GHT! YOU’R3 NOT T4LK1NG TO SOLLUX H3R3  
GC: >;]  
GC: 1 *W4S* GO1NG TO 1NV1T3 YOU TO COM3 W1TH M3, BUT 1 GU3SS NOT!  
CG: THE WORST???????????? AN *ABANDONED* SHIP???  
CG: JESUS CHRIST, YOU KNOW THAT HIGHBLOODS ARE IN THOSE SHIPS? RIGHT?  
CG: AS IN TROLLS THAT LIVE AS LONG AS THREE HUNDRED TIMES THE SWEEPS THAT YOU LIVE.  
CG: FUCKING SEADWELLERS, TEREZI!  
CG: IF A SHIP DOES HAPPEN TO BE THAT SAME EXACT THING, THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE A PISSED OFF ADULT HIGHBLOOD WILL BE IN THERE!  
CG: AND IF YOU’RE DIGGING YOUR NOSE AROUND THAT SHIP, THEN THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE YOU’LL BE FUCKING CULLED ON THE SPOT.  
CG: AND NOT FEFERI’S DEFINITION OF CULLING!!  
GC: GOOD PO1NT, K4R  
GC: BUT  
GC: 1’M ST1LL GO1NG 4NYW4YS!!  
GC: GOOD CH4NC3 TH3R3’S LOOT 1 C4N T4K3  
GC: 4ND 4 GOOD CH4NC3 1 C4N C4PTUR3 SOM3 B4D GUYS!!  
GC: H4V3 SOM3 GOOD N4TUR3D JUST1C3 OF A N3OPHYT3!  
CG: ...  
CG: I’M COMING OVER.  
CG: IF YOU’RE GOING ANYWAYS, THEN FUCK IT, MIGHT AS WELL COME ALONG.  
CG: SO YOU DON’T GET FUCKING KILLED ON THE SPOT, DUMBASS!!!  
CG: ): ****

****

****

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Terezi ran her nails along the wood of the tabletop, adjusting her bright red glasses as she grinned to herself. Well, it looks as if Karkat was coming along on her journey to get some good shit! Yeah, it was a choice that she had come up with on the spot, but hey, the best ideas have to come from somewhere, right? Right!

She happily pushed herself to her feet, swiping up her cane and feeling the familiar cool of metal against her smooth hands. The same grin that she kept during the entire online chat ceased to falter, and as she held onto her weapon she jumped down into the lower decks of her hive; finding her way to the bathroom as she went to redo her makeup.

Time to spelunk, Terezi. Time to spelunk indeed.


	2. Exploration Duo Of Utmost Importance

Karkat’s knuckles rapped on the door to Terezi’s hive, brows furrowed as he hid himself from the two moons that were high above his head using the confines of his sweater. It was no doubt that the mutant was pissed off about the other troll’s excitement- his bushy hair was even more disheveled than normal, pointed ears flat and pointed downwards against his neck. His mouth was pulled back into a deep frown, and as the seconds passed by it got even deeper. His free hand was balled up into a fist, and his muscles were tense as he awaited the arrival of the midblood. “Goddamnit, Terezi..” He grumbled in his hoarse voice. Of course she had to have the stupid idea of going to see whatever crashed. Of course she did! Why wouldn’t she? This whole fucking this was so Terezi that it oozed irritation from Karkat. But whatever. He needed to stop grumbling to himself and embark on the journey to find whatever fell. Besides, he came here to protect the other from whatever would happen, right? That meant he had to get his shit  _ together. _ __   
__   
A couple more minutes passed by, and after awhile she finally opened the door. “Hello!” She chirped, twiddling her fingers at the smaller troll as a grin was plastered on her features. Just what Terezi looked like on a normal day, honestly. “I see you weren’t shitting me about coming over, eh?”   
  
“Move the fuck over and let me in, for god sakes!”

 

She did some type of rolling her eye motion (with her eyes being pure red, it was honestly hard to tell), she moved out of the way, still grinning as Karkat grumpily slithered into the tree-hive. The backpack that he had brought with him (just in  _ case _ ) hung heavily over his shoulders, and the tealblood took note of the thing immediately. 

 

“Oooh, what’s that, Kark?”   
  


“Nothing!” the Vantas responded with a sharp bark, slamming the door shut behind him as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Don’t try to fuck with me, Pyrope. I’m not in the fucking mood.” He eyed the other with clear annoyance, watching as she twirled around her cane absently. Unlike him, she looked to be excited, which only made him more pissy than before. 

 

“Nothing, hm? Doesn’t smell nor sound like it to me, buddy.”

 

“As if you can hear what’s inside the thing, asshole.”

 

“Not in  _ that  _ kind of way, stupid! I mean I can hear it in your voice.”

 

“...Oh.” He pushed away the bright red blush of embarrassment from his face as he took off the backpack, looking down at it with a furrowed brow. “Just.. Necessities and shit. My sickle. Some food. Y’know.” He unzipped the bag, pulling out his own weapon with care. Holding the blade in his free hand, he looped the straps of the backpack around his shoulders again, looking up at Terezi. Her own eyebrows were raised, a small impressed look upon her features as she handled her own strife. “Wow. Didn’t really think about that, Karkat. Good thinking.” 

 

“That’s why I even came here. So you don’t forget shit like this.”

 

“Oh,  _ whatever! _ ” Terezi snorted, mouth pulling up into her usual grin once more. After a few moments of her looking over a couple things in the room, she sauntered over to the shorter form of Karkat, elbowing him lightly in the side as she chirped “Let’s get on our way, shall way? We don’t want anyone taking our shit before we even get there.”

 

“If you were able to see me right now, you would be presented with the biggest fucking eyeroll known to trollkind.” His own grumble made Terezi burst into a fit of laughter, and she pushed open the door with the butt of her cane, stepping outside with one last giggle. Karkat followed close behind, squinting his eyes as he looked upwards and through the leaves of the trees. “Moons are nearly center in the sky.” That would most likely be a problem. “It better not be that far. I’m not planning to burn to death just because of a stupid fucking ship crash landing.”

  
  


“It’s probably like, at least a lawnring’s distance from here. We’ll get there in about a half hour! Don’t fuckin’ sweat it, Karkles!” She shot a wink in Karkat’s direction (who was trailing behind when they had started to walk) and he responded with a deep grunt, moving his small and muscular legs swiftly as he ran to catch up. A half an hour? That’s.. not that long. They’ll get there in no time! At least he hoped. 

 

Despite his negative thoughts, they eventually arrived. And fuck, was it a sight to behold.

 

The mere hide of the thing towered over both of them, and being the shorter of the two, Karkat felt as if he was a small speck of dust compared to the thing. It was in fact a ship, the surface of the ship smooth and still warm from the initial crash that had happened hours ago. There were small dents and breaks in the smooth and fine surface, but other than the small disruptions it seemed to be in pretty good shape. “Oh yeah, Pyrope. Looks abandoned to me.”

 

She blew a raspberry at him, giving Karkat the finger before she turned to examine the casing of the ship. Watching her turn around, the mutant himself would go back to stare, the bright red of the metal making him a bit too uncomfortable for his taste.

“Come on! We aren’t going to find the door to this thing if we just stand here!” Perking his ears, Karkat watched as Terezi jogged down the outer walls of the ship, fiddling with her cane. His eyes grew wide for a moment, but after that moment passed he too raced forward to catch up, puffing out breaths weakly once he finally managed to catch up fully to Terezi.

 

At that point they continued to circle, and as they did so the Vantas started to notice the weird curves of the ship. Yeah, it was hard to see it from the angle he and Terezi were in, but with a bit of imagining the small male could definitely figure out what the ship was attempting to look like. There was two huge prongs connected to the huge spike that was the back of the ship, the back of it turning out to look like the end of a trident. A certain trident that basically was the symbol of the entire Empire. “Holy shit. Did we run into-”   
  


_ “Hush!” _

 

Terezi smacked her cane into Karkat’s belly, making his wheeze and sputter mid-sentence. It seemed that he was too busy looking up at the structure of the ship; as it looked like they had managed to circle the entire way around the ship itself. By the time they did so, the moons were barely over the horizon of the far-off sea. But the one thing that caught both of their attention was the sliding door that was on the wall. It was wide open, the darkness inside the ship a pitch black contrast to the red that was the outside. They were a few feet away from the door, but even then, they could both feel the cold breeze brushing up against their faces. Karkat felt like absolute trash when he looked at the entrance. “ _ Terezi, _ ” He hissed towards the tealblood next to him. “I am  _ not  _ going in there. Did you see the fucking ship? It’s the Battleship Conde-” Once again, he was slapped with the cane. But this time in his face.

 

Turning to face the other, he opened his mouth to tell her off, only to watch as she ran forward. Hopping forwards, Terezi cautiously stepped into the mouth of the door, before sneaking in, her form being consumed by the darkness inside. “Battleship Condescension? That can’t be it, asshole! All of the ships in her fleet look like this!” She would respond to the mutant from within the ship. “Come in! Don’t be such a meow-beast!”

 

Karkat glanced back at the forest behind him, worry clear in the crease of his brow. Fuck, Terezi may be right.. But who knows, really? They weren’t alive to see it made, nor were they old enough to leave Alternia. This may be a random ship. Or..

 

They may be walking right into the hands of the Empress.

 

A shiver ran up his spine, and he gazed at the bright candy red of the ship.

With one last look of the outside world around him, Karkat stumbled forward, stepping into the ship silently. Nor he or Terezi had noticed the extra footsteps besides their own that were already in the dirt, leading up to the ship just like they had walked up to the thing and stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly ???? this fic is my life right now and i honestly wanna die
> 
> this was written along with chapter 1 in the same night, whist listening to fucking memes with my friend  
> this is dedicated 2 u, Kankri 8^)


	3. Pulsate

The first thing that Terezi noticed when she stepped in the ship was the rank smell of death. She instinctively scrunched up her nose when it entered her nostrils, a small disgusted noise coming from within her throat as she flattened her ears. The smell was only made more apparent when Karkat entered the scene; who promptly barked “It smells like Equius’s hoofbeast stable after his lusus took a shit in it!” in his gravelly, irritated voice. His angry huffs came closer after a few seconds of his rambling, and soon enough he was close to Terezi, the sheer closeness of his form ever so slightly pushing away the smell of death. It was a happy welcome, making it so that the Pyrope could at least not scrunch her nose up. “You got that right.” She responded back. What the fuck happened here? She was sure that the mutant next to her was thinking the same thing. 

 

“C’mon. Let’s just take something and get the fuck outta here.”

 

“For once, Karkat; I agree with you completely.”

 

She stalked forward into the dark, each step of her shoes creating a hollow and nearly industrial echoey bang on the metal. The room that they had entered into was huge (no doubt it was. It was probably the main plaza of the ship. Or the biggest commons) so it was a bit more trouble to get around than she’d like. Other than the metal bangs and the silence, she could hear Karkat fumbling around with what seemed to be a flashlight. Looks like he needed that backpack more than she did, huh? An amused smile graced her lips; her muscles relaxing ever so slightly as her guard ebbed down. The smell and atmosphere certainly didn’t help with her nerves, but a good Karkat Breakdown couldn’t help but force a few laughs out of her. 

 

Her hand ran down the side of the wall as she approached it, and when she brought back her hand she was met with a musky stench, and the feeling of dust. Whatever happened in here (to account for the smell of death) must of happened sweeps upon sweeps ago, as if it would of happened more recently, then there wouldn’t be nearly as much dust as there was now. Terezi noted it down in his mind, wiping off the dust onto her shirt. She was hoping to have felt something strange, but all she had managed to feel was old dust and smooth metal. Sighing quietly, she pressed on, continuing to feel the walls and taste the air absently.

 

Despite her thoughts, she did feel something that wasn’t the wall soon enough. The very second her fingers brushed against it, she yelped, swiftly yanking her hand back to her chest. The... thing... she had felt; it was  _ warm.  _ It was an extreme contrast to the cold feel of metal. Rearing back in disgust, her troll instincts kicked in and soon enough her lips were pulled back into a grimace. 

 

“Terezi?” Karkat’s distant voice called, concern in his hoarse tone. The sound of his footsteps came closer, and soon enough he had caught up with the tealblood. “I swear to fucking god, Terezi! This place is giving me the cr-” There was the sound of a sharp inhale from him, and she felt him tense up. “What. The fuck.  _ Is that?!”  _ His voice grew about five octaves higher than it should be, and he took a far step back as he squealed. Yeah, what the fuck was it? The Pyrope was still too caught up letting the shivers get out of her system to really think about what she was touching, but soon enough her brain caught up to her, and she let herself smell what she had touched just a moment before.

 

It smelled pink. Like bubblegum. But instead of having the inorganic smell of something that was inanimate, it smelled different. It smelled  _ alive. _

 

Her mouth slowly came back to be not such an extreme grimace, and she instead slowly lifted up her cane, reaching out to lightly whack on the pink smelling... alive thing. It responded with a sharp pulse, and Karkat let out a shriek of discomfort as he took another five paces backwards.  _ “Fucking stop!”  _ he squealed, and the troll could tell that he was pointing his sickle at her. “You just made it pulsate! It fucking pulsated, Terezi.” She heard him fumble with the flashlight he had on hand, and he swung it around. His swift footsteps greatly implied that he was freaking the fuck out, and honestly, Terezi was started to regret coming here in the first place.

 

“Fuck- they’re all over the  _ walls.”  _ The Vantas’s voice was hushed at that point, his breaths coming out in short, uncomfy huffs and puffs. Perking her ears, Tez lifted up her head, tasting the air with her teal-tinted tongue. She had never realized it in her rising dread from the reek of death and feeling the ‘whatever the fuck it was’ on the wall, but now that Karkat gave light on it, she started to see it too. Beneath all the other scents that filled her nostrils lingered the same smell of bubblegum that she noticed earlier. It was from all sides- from above her, all around her, and hell- even below her. “They’re like…” Terezi attempted to find the correct word for it.

 

“They’re like veins.”

 

The mutant whined from behind her. “Fuck this.” He would eventually mutter out. “We’re going back-  _ right now.”  _ She did nothing but gave a small nod to the other, backing away from the wall and jabbing her cane at anything that she passed by. She didn’t want to step on any of the pink tendril like things, so she made sure to keep her feet out of the way of anything that might seem out of the ordinary on the ground. She wasn’t about to risk picking up a ship-vein, even if there was a chance it could be something more valuable. 

 

Terezi heard Karkat’s angry and fearful squeaks still, and the only thing she did was pat him on the back. He shrieked even louder at that, jumping as his hair stood on end. “Don’t fucking do that, Terezi!” She sniffed quietly in response, ears flicking to and fro. “Just move a bit faster, will ya?” Terezi didn’t want to stay in this place any longer than what she needed.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Muttering, Karkat stepped a bit faster, and soon enough they had reached the door. But before they could get the fuck out of there, the door then happened to decide to slam shut. A waft of the same bubblegum pink smell from before filled her nostrils, and they were both met with a huge banging sound. The bang was loud, and it made both of them yell in alarm when it initially happened. But once the echo calmed, a good five minutes of pure silence followed.

 

Then, Karkat started to panic. So did the Pyrope herself.

 

“Oh my god.” Was his first words, and soon enough he was pacing around Tez in a swift circle. “Oh almighty Jesus Christ. We’re fucking stuck!” Unlike the other, the midblood was in too much shock to really say anything. Her mind sped into overdrive as she fought to think. They were stuck. They were stuck in his huge ass ship with pink, pulsating veins and the rancid smell of death. They were stuck in the dark with nothing but a single backpack and their weapons.

 

In the midst of it all, Terezi said “I think I pissed it off when I touched it.”

 

A sharp pause came from the Vantas beside her. He froze to a halt, eyeing her with striking yellow visuals.  _ “Pissed it off? You think?”  _ He said, voice shrill and hysterical. “Smell the fucking door! Once it goddamn slammed, it was covered fully with those fucked up things!  _ They fucking locked us in here!”  _

 

“I know. I smelled it earlier.”

 

“Well whoop-de-fucking do! Thanks for saving us from that one, Pyrope! Imagine: ‘Tealblood’s Last Achievement Is Being Better Than Fucking Sherlock!’ Do you feel accomplished?” His pacing continued, this time becoming even more panicked. “I can’t believe I’m dying in some stupid alive ship. I knew I wouldn’t be fucking great or anything, but give me a fucking break! This is so stupid!” His hissy fit grew into a fit of hysterics once more, and each second made Terezi want to jab him in the eye with her cane. “God, will you  _ shut up?” _

 

Karkat quickly grew silent as Tez walked up to him, pushing her hand onto his face. “Shut. Up. You’re not even thinking about this.” She let out a small huff. “Think. This ship used to have inhabitants, right? That means there’s got to be another entrance around here. Fuck, if not- the garbage chute would be our best bet. Okay?” Her own words slowly forced her lingering dread to seep away, and she calmed herself, taking in a deep breath. “No one’s here to kill us. We’re the only ones here, Karkat-” 

 

Her voice was cut off as a loud bang echoed down one of the many hallways that connected to the main commons that they were in.  

 

Her muscles nearly instantly tensed, and she let go of Karkat, immediately brandishing her cane. Karkat did the same; Terezi heard the blade swipe through the air as he steadied it. Seemed that both of them were ready to fight a violent adult troll.

 

A voice could be heard after the immediate clang, as well as the sound of shuffling footsteps. Terezi guessed that this guy might of survived the onslaught of pink tendrils, but as she heard them talk, a much more distant but noticeable second voice was heard. “Fuck, there’s two now?” Karkat would quietly hiss beside her, and the Pyrope held onto her strife weapon even tighter.

 

Cautiously, she would call out “Is anyone there?”

 

The two distant voices came to a sudden stop, as well as the slow footsteps that were heard. 

  
  


A small sound was heard from the same hallway.

 

“Hello?”

 

Both Terezi and Karkat looked at each other. But before either of them could respond, the second voice was heard from before. “We’re coming over.”

 

Two pairs of footsteps ebbed closer, and soon enough Terezi could taste two distinct smells that she was used to. The smell of honey, and the smell of pink lemonade.

 

Karkat confirmed her thoughts before she could even announce them. “Sollux? Feferi? What in the ever loving fuck are you two doing here?”


End file.
